Panasonic Avionics Corporation has signed an agreement with airline Aeroméxico to provide in-flight broadband Wi-Fi.
It will be the first airline in Latin America to offer such a service, which will initially be available on nine of the Mexican airline’s new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, Panasonic and Aeroméxico said in a joint release.
The deal includes Panasonic touch screens with a flight map application, music playlists and a passenger chat system.
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The size of the Dominican Republic telecom sector has more than tripled since 2000, local daily Diario Libre reported.
In 13 years, the sector went from accounting for 4.6% of GDP to 16.2% (in 2013), due in large part to mobile phone subscriptions.
There are 9.2mn mobile lines in the country, 81.1% of which are prepaid services.
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Satellite company Spacenet Comunicaciones won a tender to install antennas in more than 4,180 rural and low-income areas as part of the México Conectado program.
The antennas will be installed at schools and will receive internet signal from the country’s Bicentenario satellite, local daily El Economista reported.
México Conectado has brought internet service to 38,000 pubic sites, and the goal is to connect 250,000 sites by 2018.Latin America leads ethernet switch market growth – Regional

Latin America led growth for the ethernet switch market in the first quarter of 2014, with an 11.4% increase compared to 1Q13, according to IDC statistics.
Meanwhile, the router market grew 11.1% in Latin America during the quarter, IDC said in a statement.
Globally, the ethernet switch market saw US$5.2bn in revenues during the quarter, almost flat compared to 1Q13 but down 12.3% compared to the fourth quarter 2013.
The router market also dropped 12.5% sequentially but grew 2.3% compared to the first quarter of 2013.
From a vendor perspective, Juniper jumped 53.4% in ethernet switch revenues, while HP grew 4.6%.
On the other hand, Cisco’s ethernet revenues dropped 4.3% in the quarter compared to 1Q13.Rural Costa Rica internet project gets under way – Costa Rica

Claro and Movistar have launched a project to provide internet service in rural parts of Costa Rica.
The US$14mn initiative will benefit around 160,000 people in five northern areas, local daily La República reported.
Work will be carried out within six months to link up 600 schools, hospitals and community centers to the web, the paper added.
Claro and Movistar and Costa Rica’s national bank announced this week that the project had got underway after the two carriers were awarded the contracts in December.
The national bank is in charge of managing the money, which is coming from national telecom fund Fonatel, estimated to hold US$223mn.
Fonatel was created to facilitate universal access to telecom services in the country. The fund is made up of Movistar and Claro concession payments and quarterly contributions made by all telcom operators operating there, La República said.Honduras mobile phone “black list” anti-crime system launched – Honduras

Honduran police confiscated hundreds of mobile phones over the weekend as part of a crackdown on crime linked to the devices.
Officers raided locations in San Pedro Sula city where stolen property was known to be trafficked, news website Proceso Digital reported.
The raid came as the “black list” system was launched on Sunday. This is an anti-crime agreement between the Honduran government and the GSM Association.
If a device is stolen or robbed the user can now report the IMEI, and the phone will be blocked permanently from receiving service in countries which have similar agreements in place.
Ricardo Cardona, president of Honduras’ telecom regulator Conatel, said in March that telecoms was among the fastest-growing economic sectors, and 91% of Hondurans had cell phones. But, he added, this had fueled an increase in crimes like theft and extortion.
Honduras’ agreement includes its three providers, Tigo, Claro and state-owned Hondutel.
While cell phone theft is common in Honduras, Cardona told Proceso Digital that victims are often hesitant to report crimes, but that the black list would make this process more efficient.Millicom launches satellite pay-TV services in Costa Rica, Honduras – Costa Rica, Honduras

Emerging markets telco Millicom says it has launched satellite pay-TV services in two more countries – Costa Rica and Honduras.
The announcement follows the operator’s service launch in Bolivia and El Salvador in April and May, respectively.
The services operate under the brand Tigo Star, rolled out in March to promote broadband, and cable and satellite pay-TV services in Latin America, as the company evolves from a telco to a ‘digital lifestyle’ company.
With the satellite service, consumers in Costa Rica and Honduras will be able to choose from 70 channels, including premium sport and film offerings.